For many, Tuesday night was a night of contrasts. There was a calm and measured Attorney General assuring the public that the Justice Department will hold accountable anyone found criminally responsible for the events of January 6, 2021, or for attempting to nullify the 2020 election. When NBC News’ Lester Holt asked Merrick Garland if this approach could even apply to former President Donald Trump – even if Trump were to announce he is running for president again – Garland repeated the refrain that no one is above above the law.
Garland remained expressionless without ever showing his hand, the consummate poker player.
Garland, probably aware that his every word and move would be scrutinized for clues, remained expressionless while never showing his hand, the consummate poker player. Later that night, The Washington Post reported, to much fanfare, that he had seen some of the cards Garland was holding and it appears the Justice Department is investigating Trump.
Although Tuesday night might have been confusing for some, for me it was an example of how things are supposed to work. Prosecutors and the media play different roles and move at different speeds as they both seek to uncover the truth.
It’s been so long since we’ve had an Attorney General to the letter that many Americans still aren’t quite sure whether they’re meant to be encouraged or disappointed by what they heard from Garland on Tuesday night. Since Trump left office, many have demanded swift justice for the man they hold responsible for assaulting our democracy. The pressure on Garland to act faster, say something, arrest anyone, anyone, close to Trump intensified when some members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault against the US Capitol began to express their own frustration with him. But Garland was not going to give in to public pressure. This is not how a healthy justice department is supposed to do things. The ministry is supposed to follow the facts and the law – not the opinion pages.
The many people demanding immediate action from Garland can be forgiven if they have forgotten how justice and the rule of law are supposed to be carried out. After all, these people watched as one of Trump’s attorneys general, William Barr, shamelessly jumped at the release of Mueller’s special counsel report with his own press conference that included a four-page summary filled with fabrication. They saw that same attorney general appoint special counsel John Durham to try to destroy the initial investigation into Russian interference in Trump’s campaign — even after the DOJ’s own inspector general determined the case was properly founded. And, they watched that same lackey attorney general mislead the public about the perceived dangers of mail-in voting.
Now we have a Justice Department that is back to methodically focusing on the facts. We have an Attorney General who will not call a press conference to tell us his opinion on the findings of an investigation — or even to tell us that an investigation exists. This can be frustrating for some people, especially those who believed that if there had been an investigation, we would have already seen leaks indicating an investigation. Its good. That’s how the Justice Department is supposed to work – it’s not supposed to run away.
People demanding immediate action from Garland can be forgiven if they have forgotten how justice and the rule of law are supposed to be carried out.
Garland’s cautious approach contrasts with the tidal wave of reporting that quickly drowned out her low-key comments. The report began Tuesday night with news from the Washington Post that the DOJ had called at least two high-ranking aides to Vice President Mike Pence on a grand jury and questioned them for hours about Trump’s actions related to the program. alternate voters. This report was quickly followed by NBC News reports that essentially corroborated the DOJ’s interest in Trump. The New York Times weighed in with further confirmation. The far right, including one editor at Breitbart News, immediately yelled “foul” about the Washington Post scoop and claimed someone in Justice must have leaked. Yet that report made no mention of DOJ sources. To me, it sounded much more like the information was either coming from the grand jury witnesses or from people close to them.
The media doing its job – chasing the facts and sometimes loudly reporting the news with breaking news banners – is just as essential as the Department of Justice doing its job quietly and methodically. This may seem like a bewildering contrast, even a conflict. But that’s how things are supposed to be. It’s all part of a healthy democracy.
Garland previously responded to questions about the perception that the Justice Department is moving too slowly in its Jan. 6 investigation by saying, “We need to get it right. So far it is.